Basit hopes Indo-Pak talks this time will be result oriented

NEW DELHI, December 13: Expressing his happiness at the breakthrough in the bilateral talks between the two hostile nations, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Sunday said he hoped that the dialogues this time would be ‘result oriented’ rather than just ‘talks’.
“It’s a positive development, as our Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been saying all along that the two countries can settle the long standing issues through dialogues. Glad that finally the process has begun. We hope that the two foreign secretaries will be able to meet sooner than later to finalise the modalities for our future dialogue and future discussions,” Basit told Indian news agency ANI here. Asserting that is was important for both India and Pakistan to normalise their problems, Basit called for both nations to work together to overcome all their challenges on long standing issues like Jammu and Kashmir and Siachen. “This time we hope we will be able to proceed meaningfully and it would be a result oriented process rather than simply talking about talks. We will try to walk the talk as well this time,” Basit added. Last week, during External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan, it was announced that the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet next month to discuss the details of the comprehensive bilateral dialogue. “India and Pakistan are ready for talks. How this dialogue can be taken forward – the schedule and modalities will be decided in due course,” Swaraj said after meeting Nawaz Sharif and Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz.